“not a failure to communicate”

Instantly the internet was abuzz with opinion, argumentation, name-calling, shit-talking, flame-warring, and troll-on-troll abuse. On the one side, there are those who have cavalierly labeled Brown a snitch – an accusation for which there is no real evidence, and about which speculation is worse than pointless. On the other side are the people who object to the publicizing of Brown’s resume, and who accuse the activists responsible of being paranoid bullies and behaving like the FBI.

Brown’s defenders offer a series of arguments, which if strung together would look something like this: Vahid was never an FBI trainer, because he was a contractor. And anyway, he never trained them about terrorism, but about Islam and the process of radicalization. It was just a job like any other job, so it’s no big deal. But actually it was a good thing, because he could help make the FBI less reactionary. And in any case, Vahid’s a really nice guy.

Most of these points are either irrelevant or nonsensical. Only one even warrants refutation, and that is the one Brown makes for himself.